A Winter's Tale
by DevilTito
Summary: Written for GrayLu week 2014. Gray's kiss was nothing less than magical. Not because Lucy felt fireworks go off inside her or because he made her skin tingle, but because he was Gray and it was perfect.
1. Chapter 1

_Day 1: cold_

"Why is it so cold?" Lucy whined and flopped into the chair closest to her. Master had talked her and some of the others from the guild into helping out at a local shelter for a few days, and that was where the mages from Fairy Tail were currently stationed around. They were supposed to be helping for a winter play, so they were split up into groups based on abilities.

"Well Lucy, there is this season called 'winter' where it usually snows or hails." Gray called from over his shoulder. He was busy stacking boxes of God-knows-what in the corner away from the blonde mage. He glanced at her and smirked.

"Shut up." She grumbled and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She, Gray and Erza had been doing manual labor ever since they arrived, while Natsu had been dragged away to help in the kitchens. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Natsu was helping the shelter staff prepare food. Being a fire mage and all, he was actually rather helpful when the ovens broke down, and having an unlimited supply of food kept him from going on a frenzy.

"Not all have a high tolerance of the cold." Erza spoke wisely, putting down a box of her own. While Gray and Erza did the heavy lifting, Lucy was tasked with most of the organizing and planning for the evening of the play. Opening up the binder she had been handed a few hours earlier, she ran through the tasks that had already been completed and what still needed to be done.

Suppressing a shiver, Lucy cursed herself for not putting on warmer clothes. It had been sunny out all day, but the blonde hadn't expected to be working this late. She was actually getting a little sleepy as she watched her friends come and go with more boxes. Pinching herself to keep from falling asleep, Lucy looked back down on the binder and realized that she had missed a section of the to-do-list.

With a heavy sigh, she got up and started on the remaining tasks. She had been looking forward to relaxing that evening, but she was equally happy to be helping out. She had Gray and Erza to keep her company, and contrary to all her whining, she really didn't mind having to work so much.

"Lucy, where do you want me to put this?" Happy flew in with a stack of paper for her and landed right in front of her.

"On that table over there." She pointed to a desk and frowned at the amount of work left. Happy dumped the papers on the table and flew back to Lucy, perching on her head. She almost didn't notice him, she was that focused on her work.

"I'm bored." He whined much like the blonde herself had been doing a few moments prior.

"Is Natsu ignoring you?" She asked absentminded.

"No. He's busy cooking." Happy pouted and swished his tail over Lucy's shoulders.

"Lucy, I have to help out somewhere else, will you two be fine on your own?" Erza called from the doorway. The Titania was very popular and was most likely headed to arrange another similar event. The fairies were busy bees.

"We'll be fine. Why don't you go with Erza, Happy?" Lucy urged and reached up to pet the sad cat sitting on her head. She felt sorry for him, since he usually spent all his time with Natsu. No wonder he was bored out of his mind.

"Aye sir!" He disappeared in a flash and left Lucy standing with an amused expression. She hadn't even turned sideways before she heard cursing from outside the door.

"Was that Happy that almost mowed me over?" Gray walked in and pointed over his shoulder.

"Aye sir." Lucy imitated the exceed and went about finishing their work. They were setting up a stage in the shelter's massive hall and were currently in the back room for props and costumes.

"How much left?" Gray asked with a yawn. He rolled his shoulders a few times and heard a series of pops and cracks. With a satisfied half-smile, he glanced around the room.

"We just needed to tidy up in here and do a test run of the lights. They'll check them again tomorrow, but they want us to report any problems so they can get fixed." Lucy explained and closed her binder. She was actually really fond of organizing, she loved systematizing. Now if only she could get a head start on the work for tomorrow, she would have a lot more time to spare for more useful things.

"I already checked the lights and they are fine." Gray replied and walked up to Lucy with his hands in his pockets.

"I guess we are done then. Let's go get Natsu." They hadn't heard a peep from Natsu all day, and he was most likely done with his work too. Lucy grabbed the stack of paper Happy had gotten for her and put it in the pocket of her coat. Her pockets were nice and big and easily fit the papers. The only downside was that they were completely open - no zippers and no buttons.

The two mages walked into the hall with the stage, and Lucy made sure everything was in place before they headed towards the kitchens. The smell of food made Lucy drowsy and it was considerably warmer in the hallway. Her heavy coat was starting to feel stuffy.

"He's out cold." Gray spoke so suddenly Lucy jumped. He motioned towards the person on the floor, whom Lucy nearly stepped on.

"Is that… Natsu?" There was no mistaking the salmon colored hair, but his inflated body made it hard to tell anyway. Natsu looked like someone had stuffed a beach ball under his shirt.

"I guess he won't be needing a midnight snack then." Lucy sweatdropped. Gray just shook his head in disbelief.

"Should we wake him?" The blonde looked up at her dark-haired friend. He glanced over at Lucy and back at their sleeping teammate.

"No, let's just leave him. He won't be getting up anyway." Gray shrugged in reply. He had a point. Natsu was impossible to wake up, and considering the amount of food he had consumed, he wouldn't be able to move around without Lucy and Gray having to roll him out of the door. Gray would probably kick him and see how fast he could go, Lucy mused.

"Come on, I'll walk you home." Gray offered and steered Lucy out of the kitchen. Natsu's soft snoring could be heard as they left for the entrance. It was getting late and Lucy was grateful she had Gray to walk with.

"I can't wait to see the play." The celestial spirit mage excitedly told him. Gray could have sworn he saw stars twinkling in her eyes. He let her ramble on about the script for a few minutes without really paying attention to what she was saying. He only interrupted her when he noticed her hands rubbing together.

"Are you cold?" Gray looked at her with a raised brow. He seemed to recall a pair of gloves she had bought just recently and wondered why she wasn't wearing them.

"I forgot my mittens." She sheepishly admitted. Gray smiled slightly at hearing this. Only Lucy would forget her gloves when it was cold outside. He stopped walking and reached down to grab her hands. Bringing them up to his mouth, he blew on them and started rubbing warmth into them.

Lucy just looked at him with a sweet smile on her face. She was touched by the gesture. Gray's hands were big and warm, perfect for covering hers. His touch was comforting too, and she really didn't mind being pampered like this. It made her feel special, especially since Gray wasn't the touchy-feely type.

"Better?" He asked her after a few moments of holding hands. They locked eyes and she squeezed his hands in response. Again, he smiled a little at her happy expression.

"Much." Even if the air around them was cold, Lucy's hands definitely weren't.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I think I was fangirling a little when I wrote this...**

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_Day 2: night_

The morning had passed in a flurry of activity for the fairies at work, and everyone was gathered in a room for lunch. Lucy was reading through the papers she had been handed the previous day. The writers of the play had heard she had some experience with writing and had asked her to take a look at the script. Lucy had been the mastermind behind Fairy Tail's Cinderella, Re-told the previous year, where almost everyone in town had watched it and loved it.

She had looked through it the previous day, and she was quite frankly dreading having to watch it. The script was horrible and the casting had been done all wrong! She had been writing down a list with suggestions for altering the play and she was praying with all her might that the people in charge would listen to her. No one in town would want to watch a show about a secretary losing her boss' coffee mug.

Jotting down some more notes on her paper, Lucy realized that she had spent all morning re-writing the script and hadn't talked to any of her friends. She looked up to see that they were still seated at the table talking. Putting away the papers, Lucy faced her guild mates and joined in on their conversation.

"We should totally go ice skating!" Natsu exclaimed with eagerness. He was feeling a lot better than yesterday and was filled to the brim with excitement. The chefs had been feeding him all day, asking for his opinion on each and every dish.

"I thought you hated the cold?" Lucy was sitting next to him and could feel him bouncing his feet.

"But ice skating is so fun! Especially when you melt the upper layer of ice and have to skate at a high enough speed so the ice won't crack." Natsu barely breathed as he talked. Lucy briefly wondered what the cooking staff had put in his food.

"I don't think we have the same definition of ice skating…" She told him. Erza nodded her head in agreement and spoke up across from them.

"Ice skating is all about knocking out the other competitors with snowballs until you are the last one standing." The redhead calmly sipped her cup of tea without looking up. If she had, she would have seen Lucy almost falling off her chair.

"You are both wrong, everyone knows that ice skating is a game of tag. Whoever has the fewest injuries wins." Gray argued from beside Erza. Lucy felt an urge to bang her head against the table, but stopped herself. She remembered her mother teaching her how to skate a long time ago, and realized that she hadn't skated in years.

She looked up at her friends, who were busy arguing about the correct way of skating. It would definitely be fun to go skating with them. If she survived, that is. Remembering all of the work she still had to do, Lucy ended their discussion and dragged them off to work. She was scheduled to meet with the leader of the shelter in a few minutes and report progress. She was going to hand in her alterations to the script as well.

Natsu grudgingly went back to the kitchens, while Gray and Erza went back to helping out round about. It was another few hours before Lucy met up with them again. By then she was completely exhausted. It didn't matter how many cups of coffee she drank, she could still feel her eyes drooping.

"You alright, Lucy?" Gray had this uncanny ability to sneak up on people, so naturally, Lucy was startled. She wondered how she hadn't heard his footsteps, but shook her head to wake up. It didn't work.

"I'm just tired." She answered with a yawn. It was getting late and preparations for the play in two days were coming along. Lucy had been busy all day and her head was now spinning.

"I'll take you home when we finish." He declared and gave her a half smile. Gray rarely ever smiled fully. Lucy had only witnessed his full out smiles and laughter a handful of times. She really wanted to tell him that he didn't have to, but she knew she would fall asleep if she was on her own.

"Thank you." Gray walked off with another half-smile in the blonde's direction. Lucy watched him leave in silence. She had enjoyed walking home with Gray the previous night, and she had to admit that there had been sparks flying. What she didn't want to admit, however, was that she was hoping for more, and that she was afraid of where this 'thing' with him was heading.

Shaking her head again, Lucy turned back to work. She decided she wouldn't overthink and just go with the flow. Her time would be better spent getting work done, though there wasn't much left for her to do. Erza had completed most of it during the day, while Lucy was attending the meeting.

Lucy went back to the script. Her primary task had been to organize and see to that everything went smoothly, but after her meeting with the shelter leader, she had been asked to completely re-write the script. It didn't take her too long. She had seen and read many great plays for years, and she was easily able to make it fit the cast.

Lucy handed in the new script and made sure the actors and actresses received their copies of it before she sat down to wait for Gray. She was almost dozing off when she heard him approaching. Natsu and Erza had left a few hours ago, since they had to help out at other places.

"Ready?" He came to a halt in front of her. Lucy nodded and they started walking. Once outside, she reveled in the feeling of the crisp winter air. It was just what she needed to wake up, and today she had remembered to bring her mittens.

They walked in silence for a while, both lost in thoughts. It was by no means uncomfortable, it was actually pretty enjoyable. Lucy felt no need for conversation; she was content just walking with Gray. She peeked sideways at him and noticed him looking upwards at the moon.

"Let's go ice skating." He suggested and turned his dark eyes towards the blonde. With the moon as the only source of light, his eyes looked almost black, even though Lucy knew they were blue.

"Now?" He nodded and started walking down a different route.

"Earlier today, you looked like you really wanted to go." Lucy was astounded by the fact that he had noticed. While arguing with their friends, he had managed to keep an eye on her. It made her wonder how many times he had observed her without her noticing, and it made her face heat up slightly.

"But where? I don't see any skating rinks and I don't have a pair of skates in my pocket." Lucy tried remembering all the places she had seen skating rinks around town, but came up empty.

"The lake." Gray glanced at her and smirked at her confused expression. "I'm an ice mage, remember?" She had actually forgotten and immediately felt stupid for it. Gray must have noticed, because he grabbed her hand and gave it a little squeeze. It made her feel a lot better, and she relaxed considerably.

It didn't take them long to reach the lake. It looked so beautiful and serene bathed in moonlight, but became even more breathtaking when Gray muttered "Ice make: Floor." Lucy took a moment to gaze at the scenery and then turned her attention to her companion, who in turn was gazing intently at her. It almost made her blush as he reached a hand out for her to hold.

"I'm not so sure about this, Gray. It's been years since I last tried skating and I might not-" The ice mage cut her off by chuckling, and she could have sworn she heard him mutter something along the lines of 'cute'.

"I will be there the whole time, don't worry." He had already made a pair of skates for himself and stood elevated in front of her.

"Give me your hand." Lucy took a deep breath and gave in. She reached out and clasped her hand tightly around his. She felt the bottom of her boots freeze up and found herself a few inches taller.

"We'll move slowly." Lucy awkwardly slid forward. Gray was facing her and muttering encouraging words to her as they picked up the pace. It wasn't hard at all. Lucy felt so incredibly free as she glided across icy surface, she couldn't keep from grinning from ear to ear. Gray saw this and laughed, which earned him a more muted and slightly shy smile from the blonde.

Being a fast learner, Lucy soon let go of Gray's hands and started circling him instead. They skated a few laps around the edge of the lake, before she was fully confident she wouldn't lose her balance.

"Bet you can't catch me." She stuck out her tongue and teased Gray. He smirked evilly in return and started counting down from 5. Realizing he was giving her a head start, Lucy sprinted away as fast as she could, but she was nowhere near fast enough. Gray was behind her in an instant and grabbed hold of her hand. Lucy wiggled her hand free of her mitt and laughed as she escaped.

The chase went on for a few minutes with Lucy dodging him and Gray just playing along. If he wanted to, he could have her trapped in a second. He was in his element and was enjoying every bit of laughter from Lucy. Deciding they had spent enough time playing, he sped up and made her squeal as she tried to skate away. What she failed to notice was that the one second it took her to turn around was enough time for him to be standing in front of her. Lucy crashed straight into his chest and would have fallen on her butt if he hadn't put his arms around her.

They skidded a few feet backwards - or forward in Lucy's case - before they stopped. Lucy giggled a little. She hadn't had this much fun in a long time and wished they could stay out here forever. Being in Gray's arms made her realize just how close they were standing, and she loved every second of it.

Lucy's cheeks were flushed from cold and her eyes were sparkling. She had never looked more beautiful to Gray, and he wanted to engrave her face into his memory. He wanted to remember every freckle dusted across her nose, every single lash framing her eyes and the curve of her mouth. Gray brought up a hand to tuck some of her bangs behind her ear and trailed his fingers down to her chin.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked quietly, his breath coming out in small, misty clouds. He watched as his question was processed inside her brain and she smiled.

"Yes." Lucy breathed. She closed her eyes as he leaned in and kissed her. The ice mage still had an arm around her back to keep her from falling and moved his other hand to the side of her face.

Gray's kiss was nothing less than magical. Not because Lucy felt fireworks go off inside her or because he made her skin tingle, but because he was _Gray_ and it was perfect. Lucy realized that there was no other place she'd rather be right at this moment. Gray pulled back slightly and placed his forehead on hers.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time." He confessed. This time Lucy held his face in her hands and pecked his lips.

"Me too." She smiled at him, already wanting to kiss him again. That night, she lost count of how many times they kissed, but one thing was for sure: she definitely wasn't dreaming it.

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**I'm so mushy (=w=)/**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I hope you enjoy the story!**

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Day 3: Fear

The following day found Lucy in a daze. She felt like she was floating through the day and her head was stuck up in the clouds. She and Gray had walked in holding hands, which of course had made Natsu and Happy gag loudly. Erza had given them a knowing smile and promptly smacked Natsu's head.

Lucy was still feeling giddy, which was very unlike her. She found herself thinking of Gray every few minutes, and it should have annoyed her, but it didn't. It just made her smile widen. She had been trying to instruct the actors on how to bring out the essence in the play, when the rest of Team Natsu had walked in. Erza was, as usual, displaying professionalism - they were working after all - and a hint of excitement over the play. Natsu and Happy were making kissy faces in Lucy's direction, which made her cheeks heat up. Gray, however, was unfazed by his comrades, as he was busy gazing at Lucy with an adoring smile on his face. God, she loved that expression!

The blonde tried to ignore the presence of her team and continued rehearsing with the cast. The others eventually went back to work and left her alone with the actors. Lucy actually breathed a sigh of relief, when they were gone. She wasn't trying to avoid her friends; quite on the contrary, she wanted to spend more time with them. It was just hard to get used to, what with her and Gray.

"So, you and Lucy, huh?" Natsu had been taken off kitchen duties and was now lending a hand in prepping the stage. He and Gray were putting props in place, while Erza took care of technicalities such as lights and sound. The Titania was very talented with presentations and knew just how to create the perfect setting for the play the following evening.

"Yeah." Gray hadn't really felt a need to explain himself to Natsu and Erza. He assumed it was pretty obvious that he and Lucy were together when they held hands or kissed. He knew the only love between her and the Dragonslayer was platonic and that Natsu only wanted to see her happy.

"Do I need to give you the whole 'You hurt her and we'll kill you' speech?" Natsu looked at the ice mage with a raised brow. He trusted Gray to keep Lucy safe and happy, but just in case his head had been stuck in an igloo for too long, he wanted to remind him that Lucy's happiness meant a lot to all of Fairy Tail.

"Think I'll need it?" Gray gave the dragonslayer a half challenging and half playful stare. Natsu regarded him for a moment before smirking and turning back to his work.

"Probably not." He shook his head. Gray, too, smiled at his response. He felt a tiny bit flattered that Natsu put so much trust in him, not that he'd ever admit it. Gray had seen for himself what happened to guys who toyed with Lucy's heart, and he'd rather that it didn't happen to him - especially since Natsu and Erza would be the first in line to hunt him down if anything happened to Lucy.

"They llllike each other!" Happy had been repeating the phrase throughout the day, and Gray automatically tuned him out whenever he opened his little furry mouth.

Instead, Gray spent his time thinking about Lucy. He had been elated last night when she told him she had wanted to kiss him for a while. He had no idea how it all had happened. One day they were bickering on a job and the next day he was noticing small things about her. Like how she toyed with the ends of her hair when she was thinking, or how a dimple showed up on one side of her mouth when she smiled. She was smart too, even if she acted a bit ditzy from time to time. She was just overall fascinating and it wanted Gray to find out more about her. Realizing he was turning sappy, he asked Natsu to punch him, which he did with no hesitation.

It would take them a few hours to finish with the stage, and then they had to oversee the sale of tickets. When people in town had heard Lucy had written the script, they had rushed to get ahold of tickets. Several shows were planned the next few days, but only so many people could watch at a time, hence the monitoring of the sale.

Natsu and Gray were taking a short break when Lucy stormed in and headed straight to Erza. She looked annoyed as hell and spoke to the redhead for a few seconds, before she left as quickly as she had appeared. Gray looked after the blonde with confusion. She hadn't even acknowledged them in her haste. Happy flew over to Erza and returned moments later.

"Lucy went home." The blue cat flapped his wings, hovering slightly over Natsu's head, "She didn't even say goodbye."

"Maybe she had an appointment at the doctor's?" Gray suggested, though he knew how unlikely it was. Lucy was the type to fret for days before any appointment, and surely she would have mentioned it to at least one of them if she was feeling sick.

"She looked pissed." Natsu stated with a frown. He, too, was trying to figure out why his best friend had left and with a thundercloud over her head.

"Did you say something to her?" The dragonslayer turned his head towards Gray with a questioning look.

"No, did you?" Natsu shook his head in response. The two of them tried to recall if any of them had done something to offend her. When they came up empty, they tried asking Erza if she knew something.

"She just told me something came up and that she had to leave." The redhead shrugged. Her guess was that she had to re-write the script again or something.

"Weird." Natsu mumbled. He looked towards the door Lucy left from with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I'm sure she's fine." The Titania reassured them with a smile. Gray wanted to believe her, but he had a nagging feeling in his stomach that something was very wrong.

"But why was she so angry?" Natsu thought out loud, "She seemed fine earlier."

"Now that you mention it," Erza put a finger to her chin and set tilted her head sideways, "she looked in your direction and huffed."

"…Did we do something wrong?" Gray looked at Natsu and Happy for help, but they were just as confused as he was. He really couldn't remember if he had done anything wrong.

"I don't know." Erza looked at them sympathetically. Being a female herself, she knew that sometimes a person's mere presence was enough to be annoying.

"You should know. You are her boyfriend, arent you?" Natsu asked the ice mage, who in turn shrugged. Erza perked up at this and narrowed her eyes at Gray. Maybe that was why Lucy was so angry.

"Gray, did you clearly state where the two of you stand?"

"What do you mean?" He was pretty confident with where he and Lucy were.

"Did you ask her to be your girlfriend?" Erza asked impatiently. Natsu was slowly starting to look murderous.

"Well…" Gray told them how he had walked her home two days ago and that they went ice skating the previous night. He kept the rest to himself; they didn't need to know the details.

"She told me she felt the same way I did." He also remembered how she kissed him afterwards. The thought almost made him smile, until he saw Natsu and Erza's expressions. Happy looked like he was about to giggle and had his paws in front of his mouth to stiffle any sound.

"Gray is stupid." The exceed told him from behind his paws.

"You have a lot to learn." Erza looked at him with something close to pity. Natsu had calmed down, and regarded him coolly.

"Even if he is an idiot, I don't think that's why Lucy was angry." Natsu knew Lucy better than anyone, and if she was angry at the popsicle, she would have ranted about it instead of leaving without a word. And she would have confronted him, too.

"You are probably right. Lucy is a sensible girl, and she is by no means shallow." Erza agreed with the dragonslayer. She went back to work and so did Natsu, after shooting Gray one last look.

"We should just let her cool down." With that, he left the ice mage to his own thoughts. Gray was busy wondering if Lucy would have wanted him to ask her out formally. Of course she would have wanted that.

She was always talking about how she wanted her first date to be perfect, and that she wanted a romantic boyfriend. Maybe she was disappointed he hadn't planned a candlelight dinner for her? But if Natsu and Erza were sure it wasn't because of him, what else could it be? As far as Gray knew, she had never had a proper boyfriend.

Gray's head was starting to hurt from thinking so much. He didn't want to disappoint Lucy in the beginning of their relationship. It wasn't that he ever wanted to disappoint her, but what if she felt he was toying with her? If that was the case, she would definitely take revenge - and it would be gruesome for him - before the rest of the guild killed him. There was nothing scarier than an angry Lucy. She was an author and could get very… creative. He would most likely be skinned alive or impaled in the middle of town for everyone to see. He shivered at the mere thought and wondered if he should start arranging his own funeral.

Gray was starting to feel nauseous from thinking about the horrible things the guild would make him go through, when he remembered what Natsu had said. If the dragonslayer didn't think it was his fault, then maybe it wasn't. Natsu would surely have beaten him to a pulp if that was the case.

Steeling his resolve, Gray promised himself that he would clearly ask Lucy to be his girlfriend the next morning. If she really was mad at him for not asking her right away, he wanted to make it up to her immediately, but he also wanted to give her space. Otherwise, he would have run straight to her apartment and apologized. So, tomorrow, he would ask her. If he lived that long.

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**I'm thinking about combining the next two prompts, but I'll see how long I can make it. (=w=)/**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: My least favorite of all the prompts...**

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_Day 4: separation & reconnect_

"Lucy, are you awake?" Gray knocked on the door to her apartment. He was there bright and early, hoping she wasn't still asleep. He had decided that breaking in to her apartment would be inappropriate and life-threatening at the same time. He thought he heard rustling from inside and shuffled his feet. Lucy still hadn't opened the door, which confirmed Gray's suspicion that she was mad at him. He waited for a few more seconds, before he sighed deeply and spoke.

"Look, I'm not that good with words. That's your sort of thing… I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry I disappointed you. I guess, I should have told you clearly that I wanted you to be my girlfriend, but can you blame me? I mean, I thought it was pretty obvious… SO, I'm sorry and please be my girlfri- Are you even listening or am I talking to a door?" Gray had tried to ignore the fact that he had to stare at the lines and swirls of her door instead of her face.

"Um, Lucy? Hello?" Gray called out uncertainly. No matter how angry she was, Lucy wasn't the type to deliberately ignore others. Maybe she was still asleep?

"I'm coming in!" The ice mage quickly picked the lock and entered. The rooms were messy and silent, but contained no Lucy. Gray checked everywhere. She was gone. Papers were strewn about the floor and her desk, while her bed looked like she hadn't slept in it. Gray was starting to get a little worried. It was too early for Lucy to be outside, let alone awake. She usually slept past nine, which was more than two hours away.

'_Maybe she woke up early and went for a morning walk. Not likely. Lucy hates waking up early. Alright, maybe she stopped by the guild for breakfast.' _Gray decided that it would be easier for him to look for her instead of waiting around, and hurried outside. He headed straight for the guild and nearly ran all the way there. Bursting through the doors the ice mage quickly looked through the few early risers, hoping to spot a blonde head. He did, but it wasn't Laxus he was looking for.

"Mira! Have you seen Lucy?" The barmaid had just been passing, when Gray grabbed her shoulders.

"She came in to get a drink, but that was yesterday. Do you want to leave a message for her?" The white haired mage asked sweetly. Gray had a feeling it was better if he kept his mouth shut.

"Nah, she probably just went ahead." He replied. He _hoped_ she had just gone to the shelter early, but was starting to get a bit anxious. If she had come to get a drink yesterday, she could have gotten wasted and gotten lost in her drunkenness. Again, that was unlikely. Lucy knew better than to get plastered when she had work the following morning.

"Well, I better get going. See you!" Gray rushed off before Mira could get a word in. She would just start asking him embarrassing questions, and he really had to find Lucy. He didn't want her to be mad at him, and he didn't like that he had no idea where she was.

Picking up his pace, Gray made his way to the shelter all the while thinking about what to tell Lucy and _how_ to tell her. It wasn't like he was professing his undying love to her, but he wanted her to know that he was serious about her and that his infatuation - Lucy had thought him that word - with her slowly was developing into something bigger. He just had to be honest with her and tell her, no matter how un-manly or embarrassing it was.

Gray thought about why he had started liking Lucy. She was definitely one of a kind, but that wasn't all. It was easy being around her, it just felt so natural. She was also easy to talk to, and it was never awkward between them - even in the very beginning of their friendship. Gray liked that she was ambitious, but also very down-to-earth and sensible. She was loyal and honest and always a great friend.

The ice mage was just about to enter the shelter, when he caught a flash of blonde in his peripheral vision. He turned his head so quickly that he could have gotten whiplash, but it turned out it was just some random girl passing by. Gray felt his stomach churning. He really wanted to get this over with. He was getting increasingly nervous for no good reason. Shaking his head, he opened the front door and went inside. He hadn't even taken ten steps before he was practically dragged away.

Most of the staff was frantically running around and preparing for the show later that night, and they needed all the help they could get. The mages were so busy with preparations that they almost forgot to take a lunch break. There was still no sign of Lucy, and Gray wondered if she had even shown up for work.

"Do you know where Lucy is?" He asked Natsu, who shook his head and scarfed down the meal in front of him. He had been running around all morning and was starving. Erza was nowhere to be seen either, which surprised Gray.

"I'm going to look for-" He was cut off before he could finish the sentence. The manager showed up and begged Gray to get some supplies from the crafts store across town. Since it seemed urgent, and because he didn't want to argue with his employer, Gray agreed and left. What he hadn't expected, however, was for the shopping list to be two pages long.

"What the hell?" He grumbled angrily and glared at the paper. Did he look like an errand-boy? Gritting his teeth, he decided that getting the task done would be the best course of action. He could of course send Natsu in his place, but he didn't trust the dragonslayer not to mess up, and a tiny part of him dreaded having to face Lucy. He hoped she would understand.

It took him nearly three hours to get everything he needed and bring it back to the shelter. He was exhausted by the time he reached it, and wanted nothing more than to take a nap. Sighing, he helped where he was needed and kept an eye out for Lucy. It worried him that he hadn't seen her all day, and truth be told, he didn't like being separated from her. The first show was just about to start, when Natsu appeared. He had spent every minute he could spare, searching for the blonde.

"Oi, ash-brain! Have you found Lucy yet?" Gray asked him.

"Shut up, snow cone. Happy said he saw her just a while ago." Natsu grumbled. He was too tired to argue with Gray, and his eyes were drooping. The first few scenes of the play were pretty boring in his opinion, so he wasn't paying very much attention to the stage.

"Really? Where? I was afraid she had been kidnapped or gotten drunk and gotten lost or collapsed somewhere all alone-" Gray breathed a sigh of relief and started rambling.

"Oi." Natsu tried to get his attention. He had just caught sight of something interesting that Gray would want to see.

"I mean, I went to her apartment this morning and she wasn't there, so I assumed she had gone to the guild-"

"Droopy eyes."

"-but when I got there Mira said she hadn't seen her and that she'd been drinking yesterday, so I came here to find her-"

"Gray."

"-and I've looked everywhere, but it's like she's disappeared off the face of earth-"

"Oi, you bastard, look over there."

"-like is she playing hide and-" Natsu was tired of listening to the ice mage and roughly turned him around in the direction of the stage.

"What the-" The words stuck in his throat, when he saw what Natsu had been trying to tell him. There were a few actors bundled together on the stage, rambling off their lines, but what caught Gray's eyes was the blonde in the green dress across from them. Lucy was standing in the middle of the stage, and as she opened her mouth to say something, Gray's fell open at the sight of her.

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**See you tomorrow (=w=)/**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Guess who forgot that there are seven days in a week? Sorry for the late update, I've been ill and there has been a lot going on. I will have the remaining two chapters up by the end of the week.**

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Day 5: Fairy dust

It took Gray a few seconds to take in the fact that Lucy was standing on the stage in a short dress. His eyes were glued to her while she spoke. Natsu stood a few steps behind the ice mage and watched his best friend's performance. He had secretly read what Lucy had made of the old script, so he didn't have to bother watching the boring scenes. Natsu knew Lucy enjoyed acting and was happy to see her displaying her talent.

Gray felt a rush of emotions go through him. He was relieved that Lucy was safe and sound and confused as to why she hadn't told him she was going to take part in the play. Other than that, he felt warmth spread from his chest. Lucy was looking dazzling. Her hair was up in a bun and she had a set of wings attached to her back. Her eyes were twinkling with mirth as she and the other actors, well, acted.

Once the initial shock and relief had passed, doubt made its way into Gray's mind. Why hadn't he known about her role in the play? Had she purposely kept quiet about it? Maybe she really was angry with him and wanted him to suffer the whole day, but that wasn't like Lucy. One thing was for sure, he had to straighten things out with her.

"Why is she on stage?" Gray whispered and turned to Natsu, still keeping his eyes on Lucy.

"I dunno." Natsu shrugged in reply. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea why the blonde was participating in the play. She was only supposed to write the script, wasn't she?

"At least she is safe." The ice mage mumbled. He felt exhaustion slowly setting in. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, knowing that his blonde girlfriend - or his soon-to-be girlfriend - was okay.

"If you fixed the cables, she is." Natsu remarked, which in turn caused Gray's head to snap up.

"What do you mean?" Gray had a nagging feeling in his stomach that he wasn't going to like what Natsu was about to say next.

"The broken cable? The fairy is supposed to fly over the guys on stage and sprinkle them with glitter or fairy dust, something like that. You were supposed to fix the cable that is going to hoist her up." Having read the script all ready, Natsu knew that was what would happen in a few seconds.

"I thought you fixed it!" Gray looked over at Natsu with a panic-stricken expression. He glanced back towards the stage and saw a black cable fixed to Lucy's wings.

"What? No, you were-" The ice mage cut off his guild mate by sprinting forwards at break neck speed. Lucy was already being pulled up while she sprinkled glitter around her.

Having been standing in the far back of the hall, Gray realized he wouldn't make it in time no matter how fast he ran. There was too much ground to cover. When he saw Lucy's expression change and her eyes widen, however, he threw caution to the wind and jumped over two rows of the audience, before making an "Ice make: wave" to carry him the rest of the way. People turned their heads towards him at the commotion, but he couldn't have cared less.

The second he reached the stage, Lucy's cable jerked and she started flailing her arms, before it snapped altogether. Throwing himself forwards, Gray caught the blonde in midair and landed on a slope created from his icy wave. He gracefully slid down, all the while clutching Lucy to his chest.

"It's okay, I've got you." He whispered into her hair. Lucy cracked open her eyes at peered up at him.

"Gray?" He was so relieved to hear her voice that he hugged her close as soon as he sat her down. The audience was whispering among themselves, not understanding what had been about to happen. They all thought it was part of the play. Natsu, still standing in the back, was gaping at his friends. It hadn't taken Gray more than six seconds to reach Lucy.

It was only when one of the male actors uncertainly stuttered out his next line that both Lucy and Gray snapped back to the present. Exchanging glances, Gray let go of Lucy and stood behind her. If luck was on his side, he would be able to get off the stage in a few minutes, but of course, one of the actors had to improvise and include Gray in the play.

"Tell us, fairy, who is this friend of yours?" He addressed Lucy, who in turn looked over at Gray, drawing a complete blank.

"Um… He's my… uh…" Her eyes told Gray to play along, and he decided to improvise, which resulted in him blurting out the first thing that came to mind.

"Didn't she tell you? She's the fairy princess and I'm her protector." The ice mage confidently stated. "Aside from that, my job is to keep her majesty entertained." Now, Gray had no idea what the play was about, but Natsu had said something about fairy dust, so he figured he wasn't too far off. Lucy hadn't corrected him yet, so he chose to keep going.

"Well, how do you keep her entertained?" One of the other actors spoke up. He looked less confused than his co-actors and calmly kept the ball rolling.

"I make her laugh!" Gray turned towards Lucy, before speaking in the most serious tone he could muster, "Why is Peter Pan always flying?" Lucy looked confused and shrugged. She had no idea where he was going with his act, and it was impossible to read his expression.

"He _neverlands_!" Complete silence. Gray, who wasn't fazed in the slightest, just kept going. He knew Peter Pan was one of Lucy's favorite stories and he guessed from her getup that she was playing Tinkerbell.

"I love this joke, it never grows old." He told the audience, who were starting to chuckle. If Gray had kept his eyes on Lucy or the rest of the actors, he would have seen them sweat dropping.

"It sure has a nice hook!" Someone from the audience called out. Gray smirked proudly, happy that someone got his joke, but feigned a look of confusion.

"Wait that doesn't make sense," he looked over at the remaining actors, "I'm lost boys." People were laughing now, but Gray wasn't done yet. He still had a few more jokes up his sleeve.

"All right then, how-" The ice mage saw Lucy smack her palm against her forehead out of the corner of his eyes, and then heard someone shout, "Just kiss him already!"

Gray stopped his joke and looked over at Lucy, who looked a little embarrassed. Whether she was embarrassed because of him, or because someone urged her to kiss him on stage, he didn't know.

"Maybe this is why Tinkerbell always is pissed off." She grumbled before stepping closer and planting a kiss on his lips. Gray took this opportunity to wrap his arms around her and pull her closer.

"We need to talk." He whispered into her ear. Lucy just nodded.

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**I can just imagine Gray telling corny jokes just to get Lucy to laugh. (=W=)/**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you for being patient! Here is the last installment of A Winter's Tale. I hope you have enjoyed the story so far and thank you for all your response. Btw, I haven't planned a sequel yet, but I am already working on three bigger GrayLu projects, so stay tuned! (=w=)/**

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Day 6: Celestial Ice

"Are you cold?" Gray asked as he tried to figure out how to straighten things out with Lucy.

"No, I'm fine." There was a companionable silence between them as they sat on a bench somewhere in Magnolia. It was late, and Lucy was tired, but she wanted to talk to Gray. She had missed him a tiny bit.

"I liked the play." He told the blonde and peeked sideways at her. She was smiling - almost giggling.

"Before or after you made a fool of yourself?" She teased him. Gray had escaped the stage the second the on-going act was over. Lucy covered her mouth with a hand, but her eyes were twinkling with laughter.

"Yeah, about that… I hope I didn't embarrass you too much." He laughed nervously. Personally, he thought his jokes had been hilarious, but remembering the embarrassment on Lucy's face earlier, maybe they hadn't. She just shook her head, causing some strands of hair to fly around. Lucy was still wearing the green dress, but had put on her coat and a pair of tights, since she and Gray had opted for talking outside, away from nosy friends and admiring audience.

"I heard you had been looking for me?" Lucy took one of his hands in hers, which quite surprised the ice mage. So far, he had been the one to make most of the advances, and he honestly thought she had been mad at him. He slowly rubbed a circle on the back of her hand, before talking.

"Oh, um… yeah. It's just… you kind of disappeared last night and you weren't home this morning when I came by, so I went by the guild and Mira told me you had been drinking, and I guess I was just worried." Gray watched her expression change. It went from realization to confusion and then to something resembling guilt.

"Oh."

"Yeah." A few moments of silence passed between them, before Lucy tugged at Gray's hand.

"Why did you come to my house?" Her brown eyes searched his darker ones for answers. She had a feeling she already knew his answer, but wanted to hear it form his own mouth.

"I came to apologize, but ended up talking to your door for almost ten minutes." Gray grinned. Now that he knew Lucy was safe, he could actually look back at his frantic morning and find it amusing.

"Apologize for what?" The blonde had no idea what Gray would want to apologize for. He hadn't done anything to upset her, quite on the contrary, he had done anything but.

"I thought you were mad at me, so I wanted to apologize and clear things up." Gray had spent the remaining time of the play thinking over what to tell Lucy, and he had come to the conclusion that just being honest and straightforward would be for the better.

"Why would I be mad at you, Gray?" Lucy's cheeks were a little flushed from the cold air around them, and Gray took a moment to watch the shadows play across her face before he answered.

"I was sure you were mad at me for not specifying where this thing with us was going. I mean, I thought it was pretty obvious, but then I realized that maybe you had wanted something more… official." Gray looked at Lucy again. She was completely silent and simply watched him as he spoke.

"Being separated from you made me realize a lot of things. Our infatuation with each other," Lucy smiled at his choice of words, "could potentially lead to a lot more, but before that it made me realize that I have a lot of feelings when it comes to you. I didn't like being separated from you. I had no idea where you were or if you were okay or not." Lucy's expression softened and a small smile tugged at her lips. She intertwined their fingers while Gray spoke, but he didn't notice.

"I also didn't like the thought of you being mad at me, but when I saw you on stage, I was so relieved to see you, I can't even describe it."

"Gray…" Lucy whispered, never breaking eye contact with him. She knew that words weren't exactly Gray's preferred method of conveying his thoughts and feelings, so she was very moved that he had put so much thought into his explanation.

"I love spending time with you, Lucy. You make it so easy to be around you, and honestly, I can't remember an occasion where we haven't been laughing over something stupid, and I can see us doing that years from now. I want to be the person you confide in when you are feeling down, I want to know about your favorite foods, heck I even want us to have a stupid team name like 'Celestial Ice' or something for our solo missions. I can picture us together years from now, and I want to give it a chance. So, will you be my girlfriend?" He finished off his declaration with a slight smile. He had noticed Lucy looking happier and smiling brighter while she listened to him, and now she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Yes." She beamed at him and leant in to peck his lips. She pulled back and smiled at him, as she so often did. Her smile always made his heart flutter.

"Although, I thought I already was? I mean, you don't go around kissing people if you aren't serious about them. Do you?" She asked him in mock seriousness.

"I wouldn't dare." Gray laughed and stared into her eyes. He was slowly moving closer, intending to kiss her again, when she spoke.

"And for the record, I was never mad at you." She told him with amusement in her voice. Gray nodded and squeezed her hands.

"What happened yesterday?" He was genuinely curious as to where she had been all day, and now he actually had the chance to ask her.

"Don't remind me!" Lucy groaned and leaned her head on Gray's shoulder, "One of the actors called in sick yesterday, and since they were already missing a few actors, I had to take on the role of the fairy, because I already knew the script." The blonde sighed dramatically and Gray kissed the top of her head.

"So when you spoke to Erza you weren't glaring at Natsu, Happy and I?" He asked and rested his cheek on top of Lucy's head. They were awfully comfortable, despite the slightly chilly weather. It didn't feel like winter, though, just late autumn.

"I was glaring at the stage. I actually didn't notice you." Lucy smiled up at him with an innocent smile.

"You wound me." Gray cried dramatically and made her laugh.

"Then what? You went to the guild and drank yourself silly?" He joked and kissed her temple. He loved being able to kiss her so freely, and she seemed to enjoy it too, if her doe eyes were anything to judge by.

"I had one drink to calm my nerves and then I spent the night at Levy-chan's." Lucy yawned. She hadn't slept much that night due to her practicing lines. Poor Levy had been forced to practice with her late into the night.

"Let's get you home then, Lu-chan." Gray smirked at her. He was going to enjoy thinking up nicknames for her, but for now, he would focus on seeing his girlfriend home safely.

"Shut up." Lucy grumbled and swatted his arm. Only Levy was allowed to call her that. She would have to find an embarrassing name for Gray as well. The ice mage got to his feet and pulled Lucy up with him. He did sneak in a couple of kisses, before they started walking in the direction of Lucy's apartment and ending their tiring week of work.

**End.**


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